The mass shooter who killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas pleaded guilty on Monday to capital murder.
Patrick Crusius specifically targeted Hispanics at the store during his 2019 shooting. It was one of several racially-motivated attacks that have taken place in recent years.
From The Associated Press:
Patrick Crusius was automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole in the massacre near the U.S.-Mexico border. The change of plea comes after local prosecutors took the death penalty off the table.
Crusius has acknowledged he targeted Hispanics on Aug. 3, 2019, when he opened fire in a Walmart in the Texas border city that was crowded with weekend shoppers from the U.S. and Mexico. Crusius has said he was targeting Hispanic shoppers when he opened fire at the Walmart, which was crowded with shoppers from both sides of the border.
El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya declined to pursue the death penalty. Montoya says that decision was driven by a majority of victims’ relatives who want the case to be over.
Crusius has already been sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms at the federal level after pleading guilty to hate crimes and weapons charges.
Crusius was expressionless before the hearing began at the El Paso County courthouse, which was under heightened security. Crusius wore a striped jumpsuit, shackles and a protective vest.
A state judge sentenced Patrick Crusius, a self-described white nationalist with a history of mental illness, to life in prison. He killed 23 people and injured 22 others in 2019 at a Walmart in El Paso, one of the deadliest attacks on Hispanic civilians in US history. pic.twitter.com/inzI7eDvxw
— Edgar Sandoval 🗽 (@edjsandoval) April 21, 2025
Crusius’ defense attorney argued that his client suffered from schizoaffective disorder and suffered hallucinations and delusions. “You are talking about an individual with a broken brain,” he said on Thursday.
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Nearly 100 people sat in the courtroom during the proceedings. Family members of the victims will give victim impact statements.
Crusius lived with his family in Allen, Texas, and was unemployed at the time of the shooting. He was an avid user of several message boards, including 4chan and 8chan, which is known for extremist content. He was radicalized on these forums as well as other places on the internet.
Alleged racist Walmart shooter Patrick Crusius, who murdered 23 people at an El Paso Walmart in 2019, says he believed he was acting on Trump's wishes.
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 1, 2025
"He thought he had to stop a Hispanic invasion of Texas because that's what his President was telling him." pic.twitter.com/SB8pghdi0H
His attorney claimed he believed he was reacting to President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about an “invasion” of illegal immigrants at the southern border, which prompted him to target Hispanics specifically. However, Trump has never suggested using violence against Hispanics or illegal immigrants.
Crusius legally purchased a GP WASR-10 semi-automatic rifle and 1,000 rounds of hollow-point ammunition online before the attack. He drove over 600 miles from Allento El Paso where he carried out the mass shooting.
About 20 minutes before the attack, he posted a four-page manifesto titled “The Inconvenient Truth” on 8chan in which he expressed white supremacist beliefs and his hatred for Hispanics. He referenced the Christchurch Mosque shootings and the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory which posits that non-white immigrants are displacing white people in America and other Western nations.
He entered the Walmart at about 10:39 a.m. with his rifle. He started firing at people in the parking lot before entering the store. Witnesses said he targeted Hispanic individuals while sparing non-Hispanic shoppers. He asked about their ethnicity and told them to leave if they were not Hispanic.
The shooting reportedly lasted about six to ten minutes. Crusius fired dozens of rounds. He killed 20 people and injured 26 others. Three more victims died two days after the shooting. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 90 and included American and Mexican citizens.
Police arrived on the scene at about 10:45 a.m., but Crusius had already fled the scene. He later surrendered to police at a nearby intersection. He showed no remorse and confessed to targeting “Mexicans.” He waived his Miranda rights and told officers what he had done.
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